Chapter 9:

THE NATURE AND PROCESS OF

LISTENING
 LISTENING IN COMMUNICATION
At the end of the communication line is an indispensable
element—the listener, the active participation of whom either
makes or unmakes communication. It spells a big difference in the
communication process. At this point, it must be understood that
effective communication, in part, come through a constant
awareness and study of how listeners respond. This is especially
so if we consider the axiom that meaning is altogether in the
mind of the listener.
NATURE OF LISTENING
Listening is the cognitive process whereby we attach meanings to aural signals. It
is the active intellectual process of decoding, interpreting, understanding and
evaluating messages. It is a mode of communication just as important as the other
modes like speaking, reading, and writing. It is sad to note, however, that this mode
has been observed to be the most neglected area in teaching English towards
communicative competence. This is lamentable considering that we spend most of
our waking hours communicating, the greatest portion of which is spent in
listening. In today’s world, which is fast turning into a global village and where
communication is highly developed, the demand to sharpen our listening power is
high.
THE BEST KIND OF LISTENING CHARACTERISTICS
1. Voluntary –Good listening begins with a
willingness to participate completely in a
communicative situation.

2. Purposeful –You choose to listen because of some very good reason/reasons.

3. Motivated –When you have good reasons

for listening, you are all keyed up for the
activity and nothing can stop you.

4. Cooperative –You keep quiet and give your

wholehearted cooperation when you listen
because you hope for nothing but only the best
from the speaker.

5. Critical –You follow the speaker’s ideas

carefully and get things clear so that in the end,
you may be able to make intellectual judgments
when you evaluate his ideas before responding.
THE IMPORTANCE OF LISTENING
- Listening is assuming greater and greater importance in foreign language
classrooms.

- Listening is a skill of critical significance in all aspects of our lives – from

maintaining our personal relationships, to get our job, to take notes in class.
Regardless of how we’re engaged with listening, it’s important to
understand that listening involves more than just hearing the words that are
directed at us.

- Listening is an active process by which we make sense of , assess, and

respond to what we hear.
FIVE STAGES OF LISTENING
- Receiving
- Understanding
- Evaluating
- Remembering
- Responding

Active listening is a particular communication technique that requires the listener to provide feedback on what
he or she hears to the speaker, by way of restating or paraphrasing what they have heard in their own word.

The goal of this repetition is to confirm what the listener has heard and to confirm the understanding of both
parties.

Active listening can also involve paying attention to the speaker's behavior and body
language.

This active listening chart shows three main degrees of listening:

- repeating
- paraphrasing
- reflecting
TYPES OF LISTENING
1. Discriminative listening
It is the most basic type of listening, whereby the difference between difference sounds is identified. If you
cannot hear differences, then you cannot make sense of the meaning that is expressed by such differences.

2. Comprehension Listening
It is to comprehend the meaning requires first having a lexicon of words at our fingertips and also all rules of
grammar and syntax by which we can understand what others are saying. Comprehension listening is also
known as content listening, informative listening and full listening.

3. Critical Listening
It is listening in order to evaluate and judge, forming opinion about what is being said. Judgment includes
assessing strengths and weaknesses, agreement and approval.

4. Biased Listening
It happens when the person hears only what they want to hear, typically
misinterpreting what the other person says based on the stereotypes and other biases
that they have. Such
5. Evaluative Listening - or critical listening
We make judgments about what the other person is saying. We seek to assess the truth of what is being
said. We also judge what they say against our values, assessing them as good or bad, worthy or unworthy.
Evaluative listening is also called critical, judgmental or interpretive listening.

6. Appreciative Listening
We seek certain information which will appreciate, for example that which helps meets our needs and
goals. We use appreciative listening when we are listening to good music, poetry or maybe even the
stirring words of a great leader.

BARRIERS TO GOOD LISTENING AND HOW TO OVERCOME THEM

Barriers to Effective Listening with Tips to Overcome Them: Effective
communication is a valuable skill in the workplace, and listening
properly is the most important part of effective communication. Poor
listening skills definitely make a huge, negative impact on team morale
and productivity. This situation usually results in conflicts and
misunderstandings among team members, and it creates a negative
environment.
1. Excessive Talking – Good conversational skills are an asset, and a
person with these skills are more likely to achieve professional success.
However, talking more than necessary is a barrier to effective
communication.

Try these tips to overcome this habit:

- Think before you speak, and don’t speak if you have nothing important
to contribute.
- Practice self-control. Allow the other person to speak.
- Avoid interrupting when the other person is speaking.
- Be aware of indulging in useless talk for the sake of talking.
- Be brief while conveying your thoughts.
- Observe your listener’s reactions while speaking.

2. Prejudice - is a preconceived opinion of feeling, which is usually

irrational. Prejudice is very dangerous and has the potential to bring
animosity into the team and to break team spirit. The reason for a
prejudice may be the speaker’s race, religion, age or appearance.
Overcoming prejudice while listening:
- Respect the other person for his or her knowledge and skills, irrespective of the
person’s background.
- Make conscious efforts to take charge of your thoughts.
- Consciously avoid taking an “I know what he or she is going to say” attitude while
the other person is speaking.

3. Distractions - The four main types of distractions are physical, mental, auditory and
visual.

Here’s how to avoid this common barrier:

- Face the person who is speaking.
- Maintain eye contact while the other person is speaking.
- Ensure that you are comfortable
- Switch off the cell phone

4. Expecting Others to Share Your Personal Beliefs and Values - Everybody has
their own personal beliefs and value systems, and it’s natural to want to apply them to
others around us. Learn to appreciate that others don’t have to share your beliefs.
5. Misunderstanding - The inability to hear correctly is one of the many
reasons for misunderstanding what a speaker is trying to communicate. You
may think that it’s impolite to ask the speaker to clarify his words or
intentions, but that’s not the case at all.

6. Interrupting - Interrupting a conversation with improper body language or

inappropriate words will have a negative impact in effective communication.

Models of Listening
- There are three basic listening models, each of which reflect upon the
various ways that the person who is doing the listening may be feeling. You
may use all three of these listening models at one point or another,
depending upon whom you are listening to, what the conversation is about,
and even what type of mood you are in.
Here are the three basic listening models:

1. Competitive or combative listening: This is the type of listening that is done when
people want to push their own type of view or opinion rather than listen to someone
else’s. With this type of listening, we mostly are waiting to jump in and say something
or point out flaws in what the other person is saying. We pretend that we are
listening, when really we are formulating our own ideas and just waiting for the
person to break so we can blurt them out.

2. Passive, attentive listening: In this type of listening, we are genuinely interested in

what the person is saying. At this point, we are not yet at the point of responding and
being involved, but we understand the points that the speaker is trying to make.

3. Active, reflective listening: This is the type of listening model that you want to use.
In this model, you actively listen and understand what the other person is saying.
Here, we listen to what the other person has to say before we try to interject what we
would like to share. In this model, you restate or share back information with the
speaker, showing that you are paying attention and actively involved.
THANK YOU !!!